


October Boys

by CeruleanHeart



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Anniversary, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gift Giving, M/M, Seasonal, Secret Relationship, just soft boys in love, soft and sweet, this is pure fluff you guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:48:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28904379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeruleanHeart/pseuds/CeruleanHeart
Summary: October 31st is a special day for Billy and Steve.Steve decides to celebrate the occasion by giving Billy something that truly comes from the heart.Beautiful accompanying art by juuriinHERE❤️
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 16
Kudos: 134





	October Boys

**Author's Note:**

  * For [juuriin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/juuriin/gifts).



> For Julie @juurin_ on twitter who asked for something fluffy and autumny! Thank you so much for your support! ♥♥♥

The wind rustles in the thinning branches above Steve's head and sends a shower of leaves, spinning in the air like tiny dancers, down on him.

A light shudder runs down his back as pieces of dried foliage settle left and right of him on the hood of his BMW. From where he’s parked he can overlook the entirety of the quarry. Under the setting sun, the treeline on the other side is reflected in the dark, still waters and makes it look like their entire surface has burst into an inferno of red, yellow and orange flames. 

The view may be fantastic but the spot is drafty, especially on a chilly late autumn day like today and especially after he’s already enjoyed the scenery in abundance while waiting for his date.

Steve digs his hands deeper into his pockets and buries his chin in his scarf. Something soft crinkles underneath his knuckles on his left side and he uncurls his hand to trace the corner of the giftwrap-covered bundle. It’s still there and it feels like the excessive amount of tape he’s used is still holding everything together despite having stuffed it deep into his pocket. 

Steve lets out a relieved sigh only to pull his hand free a second later to check his watch for the umpteenth time. Quarter to five. The possibility of having been stood up crosses Steve’s mind but he shakes it off. It can’t be, today is too important. He’d made it clear that the occasion was _special_. He wouldn’t…

The deep, bassy growl of an approaching V8 interrupts Steve’s train of thoughts. His heart jumps from a nervous trot into a happy gallop and his hand flies to the bump in his jacket once again, palm pressing against it reassuringly. 

“Stay cool, Harrington. You got this.” he whispers to himself before he turns around to watch the blue Camaro coming around the bend and screeching to a halt in a cloud of gravel road dust.

The thrumming of heavy metal music is cut off alongside the ignition. Through the passenger window, Steve catches a glimpse of Billy checking his hair in the rearview mirror and undoing a couple of buttons on his shirt before he moves to open the door. Steve bites his cheek, suppressing a light grin and leaps off the hood of his car to meet Billy halfway.

The other boy emerges in a cloud of cologne, the good one, the rich spicy date-night cologne that clings to Steve’s sheets for days, and a cigarette pinched between his lips.

“Sorry I’m late!” he says teeth flashing, cigarette bobbing, “Had to drop off the shitbird at Hopper’s.”

“It’s cool.” Steve shrugs, because the only thing that matters is that Billy is here. It’s worth the wait and the anticipation. “I just got here myself.”

“Yeah?” Billy closes the distance between them with a couple of sauntering steps and then stops a couple of inches away just kind of hovering with a knowing smile. “Mmh, hm.”

“What?!” Steve huffs, sort of smiling, sort of exasperated. A _little_ exasperated. Because Billy’s always so fucking _smug_ and Steve always feels so stupidly smiley around him. Which is probably the cause for all the smugness.

“Nothing. I just like what you did with your hair.” Billy shrugs and picks a dried leaf off Steve’s head that somehow managed to get stuck in his dark locks.

“Okay, busted.” Steve rolls his eyes, snatches the unlit cigarette from Billy’s lips and tucks it behind his ear. “I got here fifteen minutes ago. Satisfied? Dick.”

“And now I know _why_!” Billy’s smile turns into a wide, lewd leer. The type that gives Steve all kinds of tingles, all sparkle-eyed from dirty thoughts that are about to become promises.

“Ugh. Just come here and shut up!”

Steve grabs the open sides of Billy’s shirt and pulls him close. Their mouths meet at an odd angle, teeth clicking and chins scraping but they adjust within the same breath and then simply melt into each other perfectly.

It’s the best thing, kissing someone who’s the same height, who’s the same kind of hungry, who’s honest and eager and completely unashamed of the naked want that makes them pull each other closer, taste each other deeper. There’s no point in pretending when he’s with Billy and it makes Steve feel so light and so incredibly free. 

When they part for air, Steve’s mouth is burning and tingling deliciously and he’s so warm like he’s burst into flames to match the autumn colors around them.

Billy’s arms around his waist loosen as his hands travel lower to cup his ass, but he stops midway and drops his gaze from Steve’s eyes to the narrow space between them.

“Hey, what’s that?” he asks, starts patting Steve down a little. “Are you hiding something in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

“Oh! Oh shit, I...” Steve gasps and his love hazed mind snaps back into focus momentarily. He clears his throat. Here it goes. “Do you, uh, do you know what day it is today?” 

“Hm, lemme see…” Billy muses and feels up the bump at Steve’s side a little more, which earns his curious hand a slap “My sister’s dressed up as Freddie Krueger and I almost ran over a bunch of fourth-graders in a sugar trance. Is it… Could it be… Easter?”

“Very funny, Hargrove.” Steve sticks out his lower lip in a pout “Do you know what day it is for _us_?”

Billy’s prodding stops mid-move and he blinks at him, brows crinkled in a light frown, cogwheels turning behind those pretty blue eyes.

“Wait... " Billy mumbles, lips silently moving around phantom words as he tries to catch on "Last year… Tina’s Halloween bash! We… ” 

“First anniversary of meeting each other!” Steve blurts and God, it sounds even cornier when he says it out loud. But now the words are in the open so the only way forward is to push on because Steve Harrington doesn’t back out, oh no, he sees things through “I have something for you.”

His hand dives into his pocket trying to produce the present in a grand, swooping gesture but it's been stuffed down so deep that it's kind of stuck there and Steve spends a solid few seconds trying to wrestle it free. 

Finally, he manages to get it out and presents the now badly mangled gift. Steve has a lot of regrets suddenly, mostly about the tape that now makes the thing look like a frayed tiny piñata in the shape of a ham. 

"What's inside is better than it looks right now, promise." he hurries to say when he sees Billy’s skeptical look. 

“Steve…” Billy starts, eyes hunted, tongue flicking out, wetting his lips.

“I know!” Steve interrupts “I know you said I shouldn’t buy you things. And I promise I didn’t!”

He thrusts the present against Billy's chest. 

“I _made_ you something.” he declares, cheeks red.

The thing with Billy is that he’s all gun-ho and eager when it’s about sex and fooling around but when it comes to feelings, Steve noticed he can be a little awkward. But he's willing to be patient, to invest the time that it takes for Billy to sort out his inner struggle until he reluctantly takes the gift. Crinkle, crinkle it goes as he turns it over in his hands.

Steve’s palms get a little sweaty when Billy begins to pick apart the tape and the gift wrap and he quickly shoves them into his pockets again, heartbeat pulsing in his throat.

Now that it’s in someone else’s hand Steve can suddenly see all the flaws twice as clearly. All the holes where he accidentally dropped a stitch, the uneven knitting, he slightly askew lines where he changed yarn colors.

“It’s a scarf!” Steve hurries to explain when Billy doesn’t say anything.

“You made this? For me?” Billy asks as he unfolds it and lets the band of knitted wool slide over his hands. He looks up and into Steve’s eyes like he’s just been introduced to a completely foreign concept.

“I… yes. I mean, Claudia… Mrs. Henderson showed me how to do it and helped me with the finish but I did most of the knitting.”

“You learned how to knit so you could make a scarf for me.” Billy repeats, still baffled.

“Because you didn’t have one last year and the days are getting colder and I wanted you to have something from me…” Steve is starting to sweat all over. He’s never done anything like this, until now he’s made a point of buying brand stuff and having it wrapped professionally because that’s how you do gifts in the Harrington household. A present is supposed to reflect your status but Billy hates it when Steve spends his hard-earned cash on him and “It’s a cashmere blend so it won’t be scratchy. Do you like it?”

“Do I like it?! Are you kidding me?” Billy furrows his brows, shakes his head and then wraps the scarf around his neck so furiously that Steve worries for a second he might strangle himself. “I fucking love it.” 

A laugh bubbles up Steve’s throat and he wraps his arms around Billy’s neck in a hug.

“I’m glad.” he confesses, buries his smile of relief in the crook of Billy’s neck and the softness of the new scarf. 

For a second he closes his eyes, commits the moment to memory and thinks about how Billy’s scent will soon mix with the cashmere. So maybe Steve’s got a bit of a possessive streak sometimes, but knowing that at least for some months to come Billy will wear a little piece of him every single day just makes him so incredibly happy. 

“Unbelievable.” Billy mumbles and Steve realizes he must have said the last part out loud “You’re the sweetest thing, you know that Harrington?”

“Anyone would be lucky to have me.” Steve chuckles and squeezes him harder.

“Nothing but the truth, here.” Billy smiles and presses his lips against Steve’s temples, continues, much softer “Sorry I forgot about it. I should’ve gotten you something too.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Steve turns his head to steal a little kiss from Billy in return “Next time.” 

And suddenly it’s back, that clever, wolfish grin of Billy’s one-track mind.

“I’m just thinking” he says, voice dropping low, eyes going dark “Why wait that long when we can just get into your backseat and I could give you a real handmade gift as well? Right now?”

“Oh my god! Way to ruin the moment, you horndog.” Steve laughs and slaps him on the back. 

“Why? You telling me you don’t appreciate things that are made with love?” Billy wiggles his eyebrows and already starts steering Steve backwards in the direction of the car.

Steve laughs again. Goes easy, always so easy for Billy, tugging him in for another kiss.

“Oh.” he whispers against Billy’s lips. “You know I do.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Finally someone has saved Billy from impending pneumonia! 
> 
> Thanks for reading! I’m a bit late in terms of autumn vibes but I really hope you liked this fluffy oneshot!  
> Please make sure you don't miss out on the absolutely lovely [piece of art](https://twitter.com/juuriin_/status/1352685753726283785?s=19) juuriin made for this fic. 
> 
> If you did, as always, a comment or a kudos would make my day!
> 
> You can also find me on [ tumblr](https://aeon-of-neon.tumblr.com/) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/aeon_of_neon) for more writing and occasional art!


End file.
